You’ve cut the fat and are now the proud owner of visible abs. It,s time to go further. Just like big guys have love handles, most skinny dudes have faint 6-packs. I don,t admire the ‘barely there’?sketchy abs of 150-pound swimmers.

I want my abs to look like they’re jumping out of my stomach, hard as granite. I want my abs to be so deep and etched that you could get lost between them.

To reach that end, I came up with the ab thickness routine: Four sets of four intense exercises. Move over, 6-Minute Abs:?the big boys are coming out to play.

Theab wheeljust might be the king device of abdominal movements. It’s one of the few cases where the $5 Wal-Mart special pans out.

Crunches: the bread and butter of abdominal exercise. To make these more difficult, hold a weight behind your head while you flex your spine and raise your shoulder blades a few inches off the ground.

You’re probably going to hurt after this exercise, but don’t rest. Move right on to the next one.

Once you’ve managed to crawl to the nearest decline bench, perform 25 full-range-of-motion sit-ups, followed by 25 more repetitions while alternating sides. The difficulty of these sit-ups is furthered because the decline allows you to go past the horizontal plane.

If it’s not difficult enough, add some weight. Avoid rocking/bouncing off the bench while you perform this movement. You’re not quite done yet! Go quickly to number four!

Decline Sit-Ups

To get the most out of this exercise, visualize curling into yourself during the downward portion of the rep. Cable crunches are one of those actions that requires a little finesse, but they’re an amazing movement once you figure it out.

Use a heavier weight on this movement and perform your 25 reps slowly, focusing on that abdominal contraction.

Now that you have knocked cout all four of these movements, go ahead and take a much-needed rest. When you feel ready, repeat the circuit 3-or-4 more times. You’ll feel it the next day; I guarantee it